Page 80 of The Christmas You Crash

I’m his girlfriend, I think as affection surges through me.And I’m in big trouble.

The Rogues absolutely kill it.Logan manages an impressive hat trick, Sebastian only lets one goal through, and Ryder has an assist in the third period that brings the final score to 4-1. The fans go crazy, and I scream my lungs out. I wish my best friend, Rachel, was here to enjoy this with me. Or that I had more friends in Minneapolis. I’m sure Isla and Mira are here in the family box, but I can’t sit up there. Not without my dad finding out. And while most dads in his position would be thrilled their daughter came to one of their games, my dad would simply wonder why I was here.

And I don’t want to try to come up with a believable lie.

I linger as the rest of the arena clears out, careful to avoid anywhere my dad might appear. Ryder texted me as soon as they hit the locker room, asking me to go out with him and the rest of the team. They’re going to a local bar called Chasers, which is their normal post-game hangout. Since I took an Uber to the arena, I’m waiting around for him. But I can’t head to the employee lot without risking being seen by my dad.

Fifteen minutes later, Ryder texts that he’s waiting outside the main entrance of the arena, and I rush to meet him with a stupid grin on my face.

“Hey, baby,” he says, scooping me up in a hug. He twirls me around, kissing me, before setting me back down and opening the passenger door for me. “I can’t believe you’re here.” His blue eyes are crystalline and bright as he scans my face. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

Tucking my blonde hair behind my ear, I shrug. “Wanted to surprise you. And I figured, this way you, wouldn’t know if I chickened out and didn’t show.”

Ryder’s head tilts back at that, and he laughs loudly. “Fair enough. God, I can’t believe you’re here.” There is so much affection and joy in his expression. No one has ever been this excited to see me. Except maybe Rachel, but that’s how best friends are supposed to act when they see you. None of my previous boyfriends have ever looked at me with quite as much open delight as Ryder does now.

My heart flips pleasantly. He’s so different.I’mdifferent with him.

I love it.

“I couldn’t miss your first game back.” Pushing up onto my toes, I grab the lapels of his suit jacket and pull him down for a kiss. Our mouths tangle with fervent need. Ryder pulls away too soon, and his lips quirk against mine when I whine at the loss of them.

“As much as I want to push you up against my car and take everything your hot little body is offering, we should probably go before someone sees us.” He pulls back just enough to study my face. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about keeping us a secret from your dad?”

“No.” I groan. “You’re right. Let’s go.” I slide into the leather passenger seat, and Ryder shuts the door behind me.

“You sure you’re good with hitting the bar with the guys?” he asks when he gets in beside me. “Isla and Mira should be there too. But if you’d rather be alone, we can go to my place.”

“I want to go,” I reassure him. As much as I’d love to get Ryder alone and have my wicked way with him, this was his first game back, not to mention a fantastic win. I won’t be that selfish girlfriend that keeps him from celebrating with his guys.

The Rogues cheer when we walk into the bar. They’re all holding beer bottles, laughing, joking around with each other. When Ryder and I approach the massive corner booth holding half the team, Isla, Mira, and several hopeful puck bunnies, a few of the guys slide out so I can scoot in and be near the other women.

“To the rookie,” Griffin says, plunking bottles in front of us and lifting his own in the air. “That assist was killer, Handsome.”

“To Handsome,” the guys cheer. Isla chuckles beside me.

“Handsome?” I ask Ryder with an arched eyebrow.

He shakes his head, covering a smile by taking a swig of his beer. “Yeah. It’s stupid, but it stuck. Apparently, some of our female fans think I’m attractive.”

I laugh, because yeah. The man has fan groups dedicated to his ass. A few of the women hanging around the outskirts of the group, hoping for some attention from one of the good-looking hockey players, stare openly at Ryder. He doesn’t even seem to notice. Just wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses my temple.

“Lexi, it’s so good to see you again,” Isla says when one of Ryder’s teammates demands his attention.

“Yeah,” Mira agrees. “You should have told us you were coming to the game so we could have sat with you.”

I return their warm smiles, grateful for how kind and welcoming they are. “Oh, I’m sure you ladies were sitting in the family box, and I wanted to stay incognito. Don’t want my dad to know when I’m at a game.”

Mira’s smile turns commiserating. “We don’t always sit in the box. Sometimes we like sitting down in the stadium seats right by the glass.”

“Except for that time we got heckled,” Isla says with a grimace. “That sucked.”

My brow rises at that. “You got heckled?”

“Yeah,” she says. “It was shortly after Maddox and I came out with our relationship and he was having an off game. The fans around us seemed to think that was my fault. He almost started a fight with a few of them.”

Barking out a laugh, I glance at Maddox, who steals looks at Isla every few seconds. Like she’s the sun, and he’s helplessly stuck in her gravitational pull. It’s sweet. And after a month of dating Ryder, I can finally admit to myself that I want what they have. They don’t question the other’s love. They’re clearly secure in each other. I want that.

“I heard about that, actually.” I suppose I simply hadn’t put two and two together that Isla was the woman Maddox had jumped in to defend.

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